Vampirism in Agnostos
Origins Vampirism Origins in Agnostos are in Nurlenvyord around 1902, supposedly carried from ships and traders coming from the North. Currently it is largely confined to Nurlenvyord but it much more a condition that the traditional undead fantasy sense, and vampires do die of old age but with a similiar life span to Elves and Half Elves - fitting much more with the low fantasy setting of Agnostos. By 1970 some 45% of the Nurlenvyord had some vampire blood, with pure vampires making up about 15% of this number the rest being Dhampir. After the Red Tooth Laws this number continued to climb and it is estimated that some 55% of the Nurlenvyord population is Vampire, climbing as high as 70% in Vanthor territory. Known Science behind Vampirism "Full Vampire" aka Pure Bloods These are the children of 2 infected human "ante-vampires" or 2 other Pure Bloods, and possess 100% Vampire genealogy and traits as well as a lifespan averaging between 200-300 years (natural causes). Bitten Humans, Ante-Vampires or Pre-Bloods When a full blood bites a human, there is a 10% chance to create an ante vampire, the precursor vampirism in humans. The human continues to harbor human racial traits other than a loss of melanin from the skin and extended lifespan (by some 20ish years). However, the children of this Pre-Blood will be Pure Bloods should they mate with another of Pre-Blood. Obviously should they breed with a Human or a Dhampir another Dhampir would be created. The Pre-Blood cannot breed with the Vampire who they were bitten by. Vampires cultivate these Pre-Bloods carefully to create Pure Blood Vampires in the future. ' ''Dhampir, Half-Bloods (and of varying degrees)''' Dhampir are the result of a vampire or another Dhampir mating with a human or other Dhampir, fundamentally being a dilution of the pure vampire blood. They carry diluted vampiric traits depending on how pure the blood is, with the child of a pure vampire and a Dhampir being closer to a vampire than that of a human and a Dhampir, although all are still considered half blood. (Life span 140-170 Years) Vampire Bites When a full blood bites a human there is maybe a 50% chance that he simply extracts blood and the human is otherwise unchanged - this chance is increased by biting further from the brain. 40% of the remaining chance will enslave the human, basically knocking them into a pseudo-coma for a while which they either wake up from several weeks later or are enslaved (temporarily normally) to the vampire. Dhampir bites pretty much always result in the first result, but have a very low chance (>5%) of the second trait, usually resulting in a long term and debilitating coma. Hereditary Body Marks Vampires and Dhampir pass on physical body scars and injuries to their children, and whilst they are partially healed they still persist - for example a great scar on the leg might be less pronounced, but it would still be passed on to the child, if only superficially.